The Romantic
by vampireisthenewblack
Summary: I will be punished when Aro finds out what I have lost for him, but I have served him well for centuries, and if I am lucky, I will escape with my life. Alec/Seth, Seth/Edward. Non-con. AU. Slash. NC-17.


**The Romantic**

by **vampireisthenewblack**

**Summary:** I will be punished when Aro finds out what I have lost for him, but I have served him well for centuries, and if I am lucky, I will escape with my life. Alec/Seth, Seth/Edward. Non-con. AU. Slash.

**A/N:** Posted in the VampSlash Halloween Fest. Thanks to venis-envy for everything and to Dellaterra for beta work.

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><p>It is a vampire—there's no question about it—and it is perfectly still, as only our kind can be. But it is clear from the moss that has grown around the fingers where they clutch the wall behind it that it has been in just this position for a very long time.<p>

Someone cares for it. There are marks where the moss and vines have been cleared away, ripped from the naked forearms. If it had not been attended to, this vampire would have been hidden in the growth that has covered every inch of this old house.

The house must have been very fine, once. Remnants of white paint peel away beneath the creeping ivy, and moss has devoured what once must have been a plush carpet beneath my feet. Moisture squishes away with every step I take.

But this vampire, this beautiful boy who stands flush with the dripping wall, eyes closed, face blank, the circles beneath his eyes darker than any I've ever seen, even on the most starved of vampires, is the only thing in the house that is not covered in the forest that is slowly reclaiming its rightful place.

I touch him, press my fingertips against his cheeks, his lips, and he is pliable beneath my fingers, yet he gives no sign that he is aware.

Our kind cannot die without the form we are in being completely destroyed, and so I can only surmise that this is some kind of sleep.

Or the closest thing to it.

If a vampire simply cannot feed, I wonder if this is what would happen. I've never heard of such a thing, and I have existed for centuries, serving as a member of the Volturi Guard since my change. Surely the Volturi would have heard of such a thing if it were possible.

I imagine what it would be like to have such a thing as sleep, to take myself out of the world for a year, a decade, a century. I smile at the prospect of leapfrogging through time, waking to find the world vastly changed.

Aro shall wish to see this.

"What do you say, strange, sleeping vampire? Will you wake if we move you?" I whisper as I lean up upon my toes and kiss the plump, pale lips.

I smell it before I hear it. It is just as Aro described: a thick, earthy, animal smell that makes me twist up my face in distaste, right before a heavy, rumbling growl erupts behind me.

~v~

I smile as I step away from the sleeping vampire. An enormous wolf—its great head hanging so low that we are eye to eye—approaches, stalks toward me.

"So you do exist," I say, conversationally. "It's always nice when you come so far to know that it hasn't been for no reason." I glance at the beauty who stands against the wall. "Though he would have been consolation enough, had you not shown yourself."

The wolf growls again and leaps at me.

~v~

He's quick, but not quick enough, and slides on the sodden floor as I turn, amused, after simply stepping out of the way of his attack.

"They say you are a vampire killer. Is it true that you are a man as well? That your form shifts? I've seen werewolves, and you are not one. Can you choose which body you inhabit?" I laugh. "I have so many questions. I apologise, for you can hardly answer as you are."

The creature looks up at me, large, liquid eyes narrowing, and like a shimmering mirage, it changes. A man crouches on the floor, then stands tall.

And such a man. Large, made of muscle, as they say, and dark, delicious skin like the coat of the wolf itself. The man is naked, and I drink him in with my eyes.

"Vampires aren't welcome on the peninsula." His eyes are cold.

I laugh. "What about him?" I say as I look toward the sleeper against the wall.

"Edward hasn't moved in fifty years," the man whispers, and I detect a note of tenderness in his voice that he doesn't attempt to hide. "And he was never a threat to my people."

"Edward." I try out the sound of the word as I return my focus to him. "Why does he not move? Do you know?"

"Grief."

I think of Marcus, never speaking unless absolutely necessary, never moving unless required, never so much as shifting the expression on his face. "I think I understand. A lost love?" I turn to the man again. "Was it very tragic? Did his mate die, or was she claimed by another?"

The man stares at me in disbelief for a long moment, and then finally: "She married someone else. He never left the house afterward, except to hunt. Then she died. She was human; she just got old. He never moved again."

I sigh happily. "Thank you." I tip my head to the side and study the man. "You tend to him, but you are young. Who cared for him before you?"

The man lifts his chin. "I'm older than I look."

"Tell me your name," I say, as I move back to Edward and reach out to push my fingers through the unruly hair that is wet and full of slimy mosses.

The man knocks my hand away. He is strong and fast, even in this form, but not strong enough. I let him dissuade me and do not punish him by tearing off his hand.

"Don't touch him."

"Why not? Is he yours? He is a vampire, one of those you kill. Why do you care? Do you love him? Desire him? Hope that one day he will wake and you may claim him and heal his heart after his great loss? Vampires mate rarely, wolf. The loss of a mate is irrevocable. I've never seen one who has healed. Do you think an animal would be good enough—"

"Shut up," the wolf says, as he shoves me back, away from Edward, pushing me across the room as I laugh.

I could stop him easily, I know, but I like him.

Then he becomes a wolf again and I must act quickly if I am not to find myself torn apart upon those massive teeth.

~v~

The creature whines. Like a blind, newborn pup searching for warmth and nourishment, it swings its head and rolls onto its side. It knows nothing, can feel nothing, therefore cannot threaten my life. Yet I am disappointed to have to take all sensation away from it.

Before my eyes the creature shifts from beast to man, and I wish I knew if it was a conscious attempt. _Even if it was, I doubt very much that he is aware of its success. _However, I am pleased that he has. This man has his own beauty, and such a creature must be explored.

I feel the heat of him before I touch his flesh. Hotter than human, and despite the stink of him that is surely a biological warning to my kind, I wonder what his blood would taste like. Would he taste human or wolf? Will the taste of him depend on his form?

Venom pools in my mouth at the thought of tasting him, but I swallow it back. There are far more interesting things I wish to do with this body before I taste him, and he is pliant now, prone, and will give no resistance. I push him onto his back, exposing him to me completely, and I touch him.

His body does not need conscious effort to respond to me. He cannot feel my touches, my gentle encouragement, but his body knows, and he hardens in my hands quickly. I apply my mouth to him, feeling the weight of his length, heavy on my tongue, and before long I am aroused enough to want more.

~v~

Slick with my venom, he slides into my body easily as I bear down upon him. He sighs in pleasure, and I know he cannot feel himself inside me, does not know where this pleasure comes from, only knows inside his mind, cut off from any outside senses, that he is euphoric. His body sends chemicals into his brain that make him cry out and writhe beneath me as I ride him.

He comes quickly without conscious effort to hold back, flooding my cold insides with hot fluid. I keep moving until he slips from me, and then I crawl up his lax body, pry his teeth apart and drive myself into that hot cavern and thrust into his face as I hold his head to me by his hair until I flood his mouth with my venom.

I turn him onto his side so he does not suffocate as he coughs, trying to breathe through the fluid in his throat.

~v~

It's not the first time I've taken pleasure in one rendered incapable by my gift. I've satisfied myself with vampires and humans in similar ways. I leave the wolf-man on the stinking floor, my ejaculate leaking from the side of his mouth, and go back to Edward.

He still has not moved, though why I thought he might, I have no idea, nor mark to measure against. Is this like my gift, his lack of movement or response, or is it wholly different?

The garments he is clothed in are rotting away, and it is nothing for me to expose him to my hands. He is magnificent, even with the moss and insects that have been hidden from view by his clothing.

I wonder why his caretaker chose not to unclothe him and clean these parts that have been so neglected.

If there is a mind within this dormant vampire, it is buried deep. No matter how I coax him, simple arousal seems impossible.

"You think I haven't tried that?"

I turn to see the wolf, the man, shaking off the last vestiges of my gift. He pushes up into a crouch, his eyes on mine, and he spits the last of my venom onto the ground, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

I expect anger, disgust. Instead, he is strangely nonchalant as he approaches. He looks down at me, seeming to appraise my naked form, and my body responds to his gaze.

He lifts his eyes back to mine. "How old are you?"

I lift my chin. "I have existed for centuries."

The smirk on his face disarms me. "Not what I meant." His hand comes to rest on my lower back, and slides further, over my naked backside. "How old were you when you were changed? Must have been young, huh?"

I gasp as his fingers slide down the cleft between my cheeks and press inside, slipping easily, lubricated by his own semen. "I have no memory of my human life, but I am told I was very young."

"What's your name, little vampire?" He pushes his fingers in further, and I lean forward, pressing my face against Edward's chest.

"Alec," I breathe.

"Hmmm. If you wanted me to fuck you, Alec, you should have just asked. Didn't have to...do whatever you did to me."

His breath is hot in my hair, his chest and thighs burn me as they press against my back, and his fingers thrust faster in and out of me. His arousal is evident as he presses against me from behind.

"Want me to fuck you again, Alec?" he hisses. "Did you like my cock in your ass? I know I fucked, but I don't remember doing it. What is it you do? Take memories? Did you knock me out?"

"I take your senses..."

"I feel a little cheated, Alec." He pulls his fingers from me and realigns himself, sliding his hard length between my cheeks. "How about I take what I missed out on, huh?"

"Yes," I murmur. "Take me."

"Sure you don't like it better when I'm clueless? When I can't do anything to stop you?"

I gasp and press back against him. "I only... I only take what no one will give me. Who would want this? This body?"

He stills. "No one wants to fuck you?"

I shake my head frantically as I push myself back against him.

He lowers himself, bending his knees, and drags the blunt head of his erection over my entrance until he pushes inside. "I've looked like this since I was fifteen years old," he whispers into my ear. "You've looked fifteen for centuries. There's something kinda perfect about it." He pulls back, then thrusts hard, making my body rock against the sleeping vampire before me. With every thrust, the wolf lifts me off my feet, and I wrap my arms around Edward's neck and hold on as the wolf fills me completely.

"I've done what you did to me," the wolf grunts. "To Edward. For years I fucked him, hoping that one day he'd wake up. I didn't care if he was pissed at me. I didn't care if he killed me. I just wanted some kind of reaction."

"You love him," I gasp, against Edward's throat.

"Always did, but he was with _her_, and then when she didn't want him anymore, he still didn't want me. And then when she was gone, he just stopped. He's been like this ever since. He asked me to kill him, but I couldn't do it. So I come here, and I keep the shit from growing on him, and I..."

"You take him like this."

"He doesn't even know what I'm doing. He never gets hard, never feels a thing. He's dead."

"He's not dead." A vampire cannot die, it can only be destroyed.

"He might as well be. I should have burned him, and this fucking house."

The wolf says nothing more, only increases the pace and force of his thrusts until he gasps and floods me with warmth, and then collapses heavily against me. My face is pressed against the chest of the sleeping vampire, and I look up to see the wolf as he kisses the cold, unresponsive lips. Tears flow freely down his face and fall hot against my cheeks.

This is the true tragedy, I realise. Not the loss of Edward's love, long ago. It is this, the love of a wolf for a vampire who could never return it.

I slide out from between the lovers and retrieve my clothing. I dress slowly, reluctant to finish what I came here to achieve, and yet I know it will be a kindness when I destroy this wolf and take the sleeping vampire away from here.

The wolf suddenly stiffens, pulling back to look down into the face of the sleeping vampire.

And then I see it, as he has felt it, an almost imperceptible movement. The lips, slowly part, the eyelids slowly open to reveal dull black irises.

"...kill..." the vampire breathes. "...will kill you..."

The wolf takes no notice of the words. He holds the vampire's face in his hands, bends to look into his eyes. "Edward? Oh my god, Edward." And then he kisses him, devouring the lips of the reawakened creature and swallowing any further words.

I laugh. "Can't you see? He's woken only to warn you of your death, and you will not let him speak?"

The wolf looks up at me, and then back down at the vampire in his arms. "Edward?"

With jerky movements, the vampire reaches up and takes the wolf's face in his hands. "Seth?" he rasps. "Thirsty..."

"We'll hunt," says the wolf. "Like we used to, remember? I miss our hunts, Edward..."

"You..."

"Yeah, Edward? Tell me, love. Talk to me."

The vampire seems to slump, his eyelids closing, his arms dropping to his sides as if exhausted. Then he peels away from the wall, leaving a man-shaped outline of moss and mildew, and falls to his hands and knees. It's a weakness I've seen before in starved vampires—a punishment the Volturi will sometimes inflict on those they wish to suffer before their execution—but this is extreme. This vampire seems desperate to move and yet unable to do so. Utterly weak, unable even to hold up his own weight, he would likely be no match for a human of good strength. Then he slumps to the floor and is utterly still.

I have been sent to find the truth behind these tales of giant, vampire-killing wolves, and I have found it. I am charged with conveying the evidence back to Volterra. And if Aro knew about this sleeping vampire, he would want him as well.

Yet I find myself wishing to help these star-crossed lovers.

"He needs blood," I say as I rush to Seth's side and take his arm in my hand, swiftly opening the vein at his wrist with my fingernail.

The wolf cries out and struggles, but I hold the limb over Edward's mouth, letting the flow of blood fall onto his tongue.

"No...I'll get an animal...please...he'll fucking kill me."

"He just needs enough to wake, and then he can get his own. Besides, would you not give your life to save his?"

"He's not gonna die?"

"You have no sense of romance," I huff.

"You're crazy."

I look at the wolf and smirk. "Yes, I probably am. I just want to see him wake. I want to watch your happily ever after before I leave. I am likely certifiable. It could cost me my own life. Think about that."

The wolf stares for a few moments, and then turns back to his vampire. He holds the bleeding wound over Edward's open mouth until the flow eases, and then he sits back, the body of the vampire in his arms, stroking his putrid hair and kissing his bloodstained lips.

Then the vampire gasps, pulling air into his lungs in a rush. His eyes fly open and they are entirely black, the lack of blood leaching the colour out of even the white of the eye. He seeks out the source of the blood, grabbing the wrist of his wolf as if to bring it to his lips.

The wolf pulls away. "Edward, it's me, Seth. You're awake."

The vampire tips his head to the side, peering closer at the wolf's face. "Seth?"

The wolf nods and pulls Edward into his arms. "You've been asleep for so long..."

"Sleep? No, I can't..."

I know it's never going to happen for me. For one such as myself, changed too young, love is unobtainable. But this—knowing I have had some part in bringing together two for whom love has been elusive—warms my heart in a way I think perhaps love might feel. If I could feel it.

I meet Jane and Demetri and Felix outside the house. I smell human blood all over them and my throat burns.

"You missed a fine feast, brother," Jane says. "Why did you not join us?"

"I was...exploring," I say. "Did you do all right without me? I hope it wasn't an inconvenience."

"Not at all. We took them all in their sleep. The entire tribe. If any among them were the wolves we've heard so much about, they are no more."

"Very well. Shall we go home?"

Jane leads the way, with Felix at her side. Demetri narrows his eyes as he passes me to walk ahead, but he says nothing.

They cannot see the secret smile that spreads across my face as I catch the fading scent of the wolf on my skin and imagine the lovers leaving that rotting house behind them.

I will be punished when Aro reads my mind and discovers what I have lost for him, but I have served him well for centuries, and if I am lucky, I will escape with my life. A little starvation I can survive, and it will be well worth it.

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><p><em>This work of fanfiction is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.<em>


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